


Tore

by DaimeryanRei



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:13:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23873719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaimeryanRei/pseuds/DaimeryanRei
Summary: Kaiba Seto runs a detective agency in Domino City, working together with a certain Jounouchi Katsuya, carrying a heavy past with him. After several gruesome and strange murders, he crosses the path of someone extremely powerful, only known as the Pharaoh and capable of opening tores (“Gates”): unlocking worlds, futures and endless possibilities… However, everything has its price, and sometimes the price is just too high to pay. How far is everyone willing to go..?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Tore

Title: Tore  
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!  
Pairings: Yami no Yuugi x Yuugi, Yami no Yuugi x Yami no Bakura (implied), Yami no Bakura x Yami no Malik, Anzu x Honda, Jounouchi x Mai, Kisara x Kaiba (some pairings to be established) 

Warnings: foul language, slight violence, shounen ai  
Genre: AU, supernatural, some angst, romance  
Summary: Kaiba Seto runs a detective agency in Domino City, working together with a certain Jounouchi Katsuya, carrying a heavy past with him. After several gruesome and strange murders, he crosses the path of someone extremely powerful, only known as the Pharaoh and capable of opening tores (“Gates”): unlocking worlds, futures and endless possibilities… However, everything has its price, and sometimes the price is just too high to pay. How far is everyone willing to go..? 

Author’s notes: Everybody is around 20-23 of age. Malik’s dark side is referred to as Marik for the flow of the story. Gratuitous use of artistic license and a whole lot of made up crap. Feedback is greatly appreciated. 

Extra author’s notes: this is an old WIP that I dusted off as to help me to get back into writing again. Ever since my mother’s passing I haven’t felt the motivation or inspiration to write, but I’m slowly trying to pick up where I left off. I’m sure it’ll show in the quality of writing, for which I apologize. I do my best. 

Key: --------- = scene change

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Kaiba Seto hated his job. He despised it, loathed it. Every morning when he stuck the key into the door of his office, he was reminded of how much he really, really hated his job. It was bad enough that he had to interact so much with people - he shuddered - , but it was even worse that he had to do this work to survive. He had bills to pay, many of them, and he had to take care of his younger brother. He’d do anything for Mokuba, no mistake about that; he wanted him to have a good life, with everything that he ever wanted, not the struggle and toil he himself was going through.

Kaiba flung his trench coat over a rack, not really caring if the garment fell off or not. The office was a simple, small rectangular space; a part of a multi business complex that rented out office space separately. After Kaiba signed the lease, he single-handedly installed dividers between the desks and a large screen to cover up the kitchenette. He didn’t want to look at dirty mugs or coffee pots, and his ‘partner’ was prone to make a mess. A large chalkboard was attached to the other side of the screen which said partner, Jounouchi Katsuya, liked to use when he was ‘deducing’, or rather, brooding about a case. Kaiba snorted loudly. He put his silver briefcase onto his neatly arranged desk, avoiding looking at the one Jounouchi usually sat at. The divider took away a lot of his view, which undoubtedly was one of a mountain of empty ramen cups, candy wrappers and crumpled paper. The office was sparsely furnished, with the two desks taking up prominent space, along with the kitchenette and a bathroom the size of a broom closet. There wasn’t much space for anything else. The only thing Kaiba hadn’t cut back on, was his computer equipment. He had built his laptop from scratch, it was top technology that had cost him an arm and a leg - but it was worth it, especially in this line of work. 

While booting up his laptop, he laced his fingers together and his icy blue eyes darted around the office space, nothing escaping their gaze. Kaiba Seto was here to work, and work hard. He had hit rock bottom, but he was slowly but surely climbing to the top again. He had been there before, and he had been at the lowest, bottom rung of society: he had seen it all, he had been through it all. From the decadent, luxurious life as the adopted son of Kaiba Gozaburo to the thin blankets and the plain rice bowls at the orphanage, he knew both heaven and hell. But neither had been his true life, the purpose he was searching for; this job was just the beginning, necessary to make ends meet. Mokuba was the most important person in his life right now, and Kaiba would do anything for his younger brother. He would get back to where he belonged, where they both belonged, it was just a matter of time and opportunity. He stared at his hands as if he still could feel the tremendous pain of the sharp reed his tutor used to hit him with. Sometimes he even used a wooden ruler, or a shoe, or whatever came handy to him. Kaiba didn’t mind the endless hours of study or the harsh discipline he had to go through. Going outside and playing with kids his age had never appealed to him. Instead he had absorbed all the knowledge eagerly, hungrily; the reason why Gozaburo Kaiba had adopted him and Mokuba was exactly because of that hunger. Gozaburo saw a promise in him, he had noticed his perseverance, his intelligence and his determination. 

No time to reminisce. Kaiba logged in and waited for the software to start up, his email program first. It would take at least another hour before his… ‘business partner’… and yes, he used that term very loosely, would show up; probably in shoddy clothes, ragged sneakers and a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. If it weren’t for his photographic memory and his insane luck, Kaiba would never have given a collaboration with Jounouchi Katsuya a second thought: on the contrary, he would’ve laughed so hard his sides would’ve split. He knew Jounouchi from high school; the standard school clown, the goof with the low grades, a half-assed joker with a bunch of nerdy friends as his entourage. 

Was it irony or a cruel twist of fate that they had ended working together? That of all the people in the world, _Jounouchi_ had helped him build up this detective agency, that he was the only one capable enough to deal with this line of work? Kaiba gritted his teeth. He hated charity, he hated handouts, he hated to be in need of any help. Gozaburo had ruined it all and everything that had been destined for him, Kaiba Seto - was gone. There was nothing left: stock had plummeted, the name ‘Kaiba’ held no credit anymore… It wasn’t so bad to swallow his pride and go look for a job. It was bad being rejected and falling to hard times – nobody wanted to hire him, nobody wanted to be associated with Kaiba. He wasn’t cut out to work for a boss anyway, he used to be the CEO of one of the world’s most influential companies. One day he would reclaim the name Kaiba proudly and bring KaibaCorp back, with the same technology it once had been so renowned for. No more warmongering, no more shady investments in weapons manufacturing… Kaiba would crawl back from the grave his adoptive father had dug for him. 

The door slammed open and he was startled out of his thoughts. Jounouchi entered in rather sloppy clothing and with a yellow and white bag in his hand, predictably munching on something. 

“Morning, Kaiba!” 

As usual, his voice was too loud and too cheerful. Kaiba cringed. “Good morning, Jounouchi,” he answered rather stiffly. Bustling with energy, Jounouchi made his way over to the kitchenette and complained about the lack of coffee. Kaiba cringed yet again. Jounouchi permitted himself far too much leeway, but there wasn’t much he could say about it. They were in this together, having used both of their last financial resources to set up this detective agency. Still, the day that he would regard Jounouchi something as his ‘equal’ would be the day that pigs would grow horns and fly. 

At least Jounouchi came in alone today, he had the habit of inviting his gang of friends over, insufferable as they were. They always greeted him, Kaiba, as either one of them or a long lost friend who needed some extra attention. KaibaCorp’s downfall wasn’t a secret, it had been hard to miss with all the (inter-)national press writing about it, and he didn’t want... no, he didn’t need their pity. Perhaps he should give them credit for remaining such a tight-knit group, despite going separate ways with university, jobs… Whatever, Kaiba didn’t care for any of them. Only his brother mattered. He dismissed his thoughts about his brother for now, as he needed to concentrate on work. Kaiba shut out Jounouchi’s rummaging around in the kitchenette and opened his e-mail program. He had a lot to sift through: messages about new leads, cold cases, current cases and the occasional complot theory. 

“So, what’s up for today?” Jounouchi walked over to him, carrying two cups of coffee and putting one on Kaiba’s desk before taking the seat behind his own desk, propping his feet up on top of it. 

“We can wrap up the Yuzumiki case,” Kaiba growled, not enjoying his view on the bottom of Jounouchi’s shoes. Too bad that his ‘partner’ had no inkling of personal space or privacy, as he often chattered about his own life, conveniently ignoring Kaiba’s stoic lack of interest. “Thanks to your… shady fence, the stolen jewellery was indeed at that pawnshop.” 

Jounouchi grinned. “He might be a jerkass American, but he knows his way around.” 

Kaiba didn’t ask about Jounouchi’s contacts, all that mattered to him was to get the work done and to get paid. The sooner he could rebuild KaibaCorp., the better. Besides, it was best _not_ to know. Jounouchi didn’t ask him about his contacts either. 

“I’ve taken a look at the photos and old man Keiko’s looking good on them,” Jounouchi said, albeit with a grimace. One thing Kaiba would admit about him, reluctantly though, was that Jounouchi at least took the partnership seriously. He worked hard and he almost never turned down a case, though he loathed the adultery ones. Ironically, these cases paid the best; the spouse always coughed up good coin for incriminating pictures. 

“Yuzumiki and Keiko are almost done, then,” Kaiba recapitulated. “I’ll forward you a couple of new leads. It seems that a new gang is claiming the streets of Domino City.” 

Jounouchi pursed his lips. He shoved a couple of empty food containers out of the way to reach his desktop computer and turned it on. Next to the computer were two framed pictures: one of his younger sister Shizuka and one of the entire group of friends, posing in Domino City park on a sunny day. They kept his faith in humanity alive and inspired him to do his work. If it weren’t for them, Jounouchi might’ve never left his days as a member of a gang behind him, ending up either behind bars or dead – that was why any mention of a new gang rising in town made him feel uncomfortable. Suppressing a shiver, he waited for his computer to load its software, meanwhile finishing his coffee. It was important to document every step in a case, for the client and for the agency itself. Kaiba had hammered it into Jounouchi to be alert on every detail and he kept a strict eye on the records, even at grammatical level – much to Jounouchi’s annoyance. 

He read Kaiba’s forwarded emails first. ‘Increased gang activity’… ‘people report not feeling safe on the streets in the Nakajima district”… nothing that unusual, gangs were unfortunately a part of any large city. It didn’t sit well with him, that was for sure and he made a mental note to track any news about this up-and-coming gang. After that, he concentrated on writing up his reports and dealing with other mails, following up on leads and questions, either by mail or phone. The day went by rather uneventfully and Jounouchi had to leave early to take care of the Keiko case, handing the pictures to the disgruntled spouse. A couple of hours later, Kaiba decided to quit for today as well and tidied up his desk before leaving. He turned off the lights, painstakingly ignoring the mess in the small kitchenette and closed the door behind him. Heaving a sigh, he turned the key in the lock once again. At least the evenings were quite... soothing. After dinner and when Mokuba was gone to bed, he could work on his own project: the holographic technology he had developed, so innovative and revolutionary that it was going to be life-changing. 

Kaiba left the building and started his walk towards the subway. He couldn’t afford a taxi or a car; he had never learned to drive anyway as KaibaCorp had provided private chauffeurs. To think that he was dependent on public transport, just like any other commuter… it wasn’t about luxury and wealth, though. It was about justice, and his name, and the unfairness of what had happened to him and Mokuba… he was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the tug at his briefcase first. When his arm was all but yanked backwards, he uttered a grunt of pain and turned around, only to stare in blank eyes, devoid of any expression. A pale young man had his hands on Kaiba’s briefcase and started pulling it towards him. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kaiba pulled his briefcase back with such force that the stranger almost toppled over. He corrected his balance and showed Kaiba a toothy smile, his gaze confused and dazed. He reached for the briefcase again. 

“Get lost!” Kaiba used his free hand to push the man away. Flailing, he regained his balance anew and simply tried again to reach for the briefcase. Kaiba took a couple of steps back, the man sluggishly followed. Kaiba snarled. “Who are you? What do you want?” He couldn’t believe that someone was interested in his briefcase. It had to be because of the laptop; not only was it the beating heart of his business, it also contained all the concepts and designs of the technology he was working on. Just the thought of his hard work falling into the hands of this… deranged person, probably a junkie looking for something to sell to get a quick fix, made his adrenalin soar. Boosted by the energy pumping through his veins, Kaiba swung his briefcase back and forth with all of his strength, hitting the young man against his chin and chest. That brought at least some look of surprise on his face, his eyes widening and consequently rolling into the back of his head, as he sunk to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The only thing remaining on his face was that unsettling grin, even in unconsciousness. Kaiba heaved from the exertion, the adrenalin still rushing through him. His entire body was tense, bracing itself for another attack – but none came. This stranger, whoever he was, worked alone; he had no ‘friends’ backing him up. This part of the business district in Domino City wasn’t known for a high crime rate or robberies like this, in fact Kaiba had only heard once or twice about a burglary, that was it. He couldn’t believe that someone just had tried to rob him. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, Kaiba came more to his senses, taking his surroundings in. A couple of feet away was a bunch of salarymen, one of them was talking on his cell phone. Another seemed to ponder whether to come forward and offer help, unsure about Kaiba needed it or not. His breathing still erratic, Kaiba tried to regain control over his body. He noticed how cramped his fingers curled around the handle of the briefcase and he slowly force himself to loosen up his grip. His eyes darted to the young man on the ground, taking note of his unkempt appearance and ratty clothes. Something drew his attention, though; a small object had fallen out of the stranger’s sleeve and was lying next to his hand on the pavement. 

Curious, Kaiba picked it up. It was a dark purple coloured trinket in the shape of a triangle. In its midst was a shiny surface with a stylized eye. He turned it around and around between his fingers but there was nothing imprinted on it, no name or any other means of identification. Kaiba snorted. It was just a piece of trash. He could hear sirens in the distance, approaching fast. Annoyance settled in as he realized that Mokuba was at home right now, wondering why it took his brother so long. He’d better call him as to not make him worry; he had no idea how long it was going to take the police to deal with this, but he was determined to go home as fast as he could. Kaiba’s free hand went to retrieve his cell phone, dumping the weird trinket in his back pocket. He forgot all about it as soon as he dialed his home number, waiting for Mokuba to pick up. He had lost more than enough time already.

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End file.
